itsual Succession Planning
Overview
Succession planning ensures critical roles can be filled without crisis. It combines talent assessment, development, and honest readiness judgments.
When to Use
- Critical role risk reviews
- Leadership bench planning
- Pre-retirement and growth-driven vacancy prep
- Board or executive talent discussions
Core Practices
- Identify critical roles (not every manager seat)
- Assess succession candidates with evidence, not only politics
- Rate readiness (ready now / 1–2 years / stretch)
- Create development plans for gaps
- Review plans on a cadence; update for attrition and growth
- Avoid creating entitlement or demotivation through secrecy mismanagement
Principles
- A list of names is not a succession plan
- Diversity of bench is a resilience issue
- Emergency successors and strategic successors may differ
- Development must be real, not aspirational paperwork
Verification
- Critical roles are identified
- Successors and readiness are documented
- Development actions are tracked